Home
by Remnant of Life
Summary: Allen comes back from a mission to find a surprise waiting for him. Oneshot. Yaoi Laven fluff.


**AN: Hey guys! Finally back with a new story. This time, it's -Man, and I wanted to write a one-shot about my favorite pairing in the show, which is Allen x Lavi. They're so cute together! -fangirl squee- Anyway, this is just a story of Laven fluff I wrote for my friend's birthday, and I wanted to share it with you all. Any feedback is welcome! :) Now, on to the story!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own -Man. Never have, never will, most likely. If I did, Allen and Lavi would definitely be together in the anime/manga, not just here in my fanfiction world. ^^;**

Allen flopped onto his bed with a sigh, his right arm thrown carelessly over his eyes. His last mission had taken over two weeks complete, and he was _exhausted_. His clear gray eyes closed as he sank into the soft mattress. He had missed being back home, at Headquarters. He had missed his room, his fellow exorcists, the science team, Jerry's cooking; especially that. But most of all, he had missed…

A soft knock came from outside Allen's door. The white haired exorcist opened his eyes and sat up. "Come in," he called.

The door opened, and Lavi poked his head in. "Hey, buddy!" he greeted, his emerald eye sparkling. "Heard you were back, and I wanted to check in with you."

Allen smiled warmly at the redhead, feeling his heart give a small, nervous flutter in his chest. "Yeah, I just got back," he said. "Why don't you come in?"

Lavi walked into the room, carefully closing the door behind him. "So, how'd the mission go?"

Allen shrugged, patting the bed beside him indicating that he wanted Lavi to sit down beside him. "It was all right," he shrugged once Lavi had sat down on the bed. "I got the Innocence before any Akuma managed to locate its exact position, and there wasn't all that much damage done to the surrounding villages. It's good to be home, though," he added with a sigh. "I missed you guys."

Lavi smiled, ruffling his best friend's hair. "You've been missed, too, buddy."

Allen shot a smirk at him. "Is that so?"

"Yep! Lenalee's missed you. Jerry's missed you like hell." Allen laughed. "Komui's missed you, Johnny's missed you. Hell, the whole science team's missed you. I'm pretty sure Yuu's missed you, even though we both know he'll never admit it." They both laughed at that. "And…" Lavi blushed lightly, his voice low. "I've missed you."

Allen shot his red haired friend a confused look. "You have?"

"Yeah." Something in Lavi's voice told Allen that he wasn't messing around with him now, but was being completely serious for once.

Allen felt his heart give a hopeful flutter. "Is that so…" He closed his eyes and leaned his head tentatively on Lavi's shoulder. "I missed you, too, Lavi."

Lavi felt his cheeks heat up slightly as he cautiously wrapped an arm around Allen's shoulders. They sat like that for a while longer in silence, simply taking comfort in the other's presence before Lavi broke it with a quiet, "Allen?"

"Hm?" Allen looked up at Lavi through half-lidded eyes.

Lavi didn't say anything at first, simply looking into his white-haired friend's gray eyes. Then he sighed and pressed his forehead against Allen's. "I'm glad you're back."

"I'm glad I'm back, too," Allen mumbled quietly and, without thinking, pressed his lips gently against Lavi's.

Lavi's eyes widened for a moment, then let his eyes slip closed and kissed the white haired exorcist back tenderly. He felt Allen slide his arms around his neck as he wrapped his arms around Allen's slim waist, pulling him closer.

After a few moments, they broke apart and looked into each other's eyes. Allen sighed happily and leaned against the older boy. Lavi kept his arms around Allen, stroking his hair gently, and for the first time since Mana had died, Allen truly felt safe, and cared for. Like someone really loved him for who he was. He snuggled against Lavi, his arms still around the older boy's neck. "Lavi?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah, Allen?"

"Do you love me?"

Lavi was taken aback by the sudden question and answered almost immediately. "Yes. I do."

"For how long?"

Lavi thought for a moment, trying to figure out when he had fallen for the young exorcist in his arms. "A while," he said finally. "I knew I liked you when I first met you right after you woke after you got back from your mission in the Rewinding Town and found Miranda. Almost like one of those 'Love at first sight' clichés. You looked so cute, even when you were covered in bandages." Allen laughed quietly. "But, I think I realized that I loved you when we were heading to Edo, and you lost your Innocence. I saw Tim's memories of what happened with you and Tyki Mikk, and I was furious. I wanted to kill him slowly for taking you away from me."

"You did?" Allen asked, looking up at him.

Lavi nodded, his visible eye distant and unfocused. "Though, when I actually fought him, I just ended up getting my ass handed to me." He laughed sheepishly. "But I also wasn't really thinking while going up against him. I couldn't think straight because I thought that he was the guy that killed you, and I wanted to make him pay."

"Lavi…" Allen whispered, burying his face in his friend's shoulder. "I didn't think what happened to me when Tyki found me would have affected you that way."

"Don't worry about it, buddy." Lavi ruffled his snow white hair playfully. "But, point being, thinking that I had lost you made me realize what I felt for you wasn't just friendship. I realized that I was in love with you."

"All this time?"

"Yeah. I just didn't know how to tell you. I was worried that you wouldn't feel the same way, and wouldn't want me around anymore if you knew how I felt about you. You're my best friend, Allen, and I didn't want to risk losing that friendship because of me."

Allen stayed quiet as he took that in. He had had something like a crush on Lavi nearly as long as he had known the redhead; since he had been with him when they had found Krory. But it had taken him a lot longer to realize that he had fallen for the future Bookman. "Road," he said quietly.

"What?"

"That's when I realized," Allen murmured, his arms tightening around Lavi's neck. "I've had a crush on you since we met Krory. But it was Road that made me realize how I felt. What she did to you… making me fight you… That was horrible." He buried his face in the crook of Lavi's neck, and felt the older boy's arms tighten around him comfortingly. "At first, I thought it was because you were a close friend, and comrade that I didn't want to hurt you. But when I realized that it wasn't really you…" He blushed faintly, remembering. Lavi's merciless attacks… Road's laughter, telling Allen that that wasn't his friend anymore, but a Bookman… hugging Lavi to try and get him to snap out of it… reaching for his friend through the flames that engulfed him, desperate to get him out safely…

"Allen?"

Allen pulled himself out of his thoughts and looked up into Lavi's emerald eye. "Sorry. I kinda got lost in my memories there," he chuckled.

"Allen, I'm so sorry." Lavi's eye was clouded with regret. "I really didn't want to hurt you. I didn't. I had no idea what I was doing, or rather, what _he _was doing," he added bitterly, thinking back to Deak's cold smirk and taunting words.

"I know that." Allen leaned up and pressed his lips quickly to Lavi's. "I'm not blaming you. I'm just saying, that made me realize how I felt. I wanted to save you so badly because I loved you. Because I love you…" Allen's voice trailed off as he leaned his head against the older exorcist's shoulder.

Lavi ran his hand through Allen's soft white hair, thinking over what the younger boy had said. It seemed so hard to believe that, the entire time he had been arguing with himself whether or not to risk Allen's friendship by telling the boy how he truly felt about him, Allen was probably having the same internal dilemma. Fate worked in mysterious ways, it seemed.

Allen brought his legs up to his chest and curled up beside Lavi, a small smile on his face. If he could just stay here like this, curled up in the arms of the person he loved, the one that loved him, he would be happy. Only one thing, though, would make this moment absolutely perfect.

"Lavi?"

"Yeah?"

"Would you do something for me?" Allen asked, blushing lightly.

"Of course," was the immediate response. "What is it?"

"Kiss me," Allen whispered.

Lavi smiled down at him. "As you wish," he breathed, and lightly pressed his lips to Allen's.

Allen smiled into the kiss as he hugged the redhead tightly. _Now, this,_ he thought as he felt Lavi's arms tighten around his waist, pulling him into his lap, _this is where I belong. Now, I'm finally home._


End file.
